D&D 5E New Cover for Eberron: Rising from the Last War

The new cover for the upcoming Eberron: Rising From the Last War has been revealed by WotC. This cover by Wesley Burt depicts a warforged wizard and their halfing companion in the Demon Wastes.

Jeremy Crawford and Greg Tito discuss the new cover in this video. A couple of weeks ago, Jeremy Crawford stated that the previous cover by Ben Oliver was an interior illustration serving as a placeholder cover. They expand on that in this video:

Tito: We have decided to change this cover, though. We are going with a different cover for this book.... we had the rare opportunity to change that because the files had not yet been sent to the printer.

Crawford: That's right. When the book was announced, we were still about a week out from sending the books to the printer... we had a window of time to swap out the cover, which was actually something we had been discussing for some time leading up to the announcement.

Tito: But, once we announced, we also recieved a lot of feedback from fans saying that they wanted a different cover and that feedback really galvanized us... so we are changing it to this cover designed by Wesley Burt.

The painting was already in the book, and was moved to the cover, while Ben Oliver's previous cover was moved to be the chapter opener for the first chapter (character creation).

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[jedijon]

I really like this cover for Dark Sun - had no idea they were going to do it before Eberron. Amazing how fan input really does change things!

 

[Reynard]

Yikes. This is nearly as bad as the "placeholder" art, which I still think wasn't placeholder art, but then they saw the slew of negative comments and quickly hired someone to slap together this version. Not only does it appear rushed, it has way too much empty space.

This is why letting the internet do your art direction is a terrible idea. The process of teasing information to build hype and then freaking out over the response needs to stop. Remember when books just showed up at the game story with maybe an ad on the back cover of Dragon to herald their arrival? I'd like those days back please.

 

[DEFCON 1]

It's all much ado about nothing anyway. Once you own the book you just start using it and never bother being concerned by the cover ever again. It's all the stuff on the inside that you focus on, not a cover that you would have seen thousands of times over and glossed over just as much.

 

[dave2008]

Remember when books just showed up at the game story with maybe an ad on the back cover of Dragon to herald their arrival? I'd like those days back please.

I do remember those days and I definitely don't want them back. If that is how I found out about new releases now I would only have about a tenth of the 5e material I have (a lot less if I consider DM's Guild and UA Reddit material)

 

[DWChancellor]

I feel getting an Eberron cover "right" is a little no-win scenarios since it has several very strong thematic areas that resonate with different people.

Examples:

Lightning rail heist (metallics, blown out blues)
Mournland ambush (greys, browns, blood red)
Xendrik pyramid (Lush greens, sandstone/granite, rainbow critters)
Sharn noir (chiaroscuro composition)

Totally different palates and feels. Cinematic and evocative though! Love every one of them.

 

[dave2008]

No no no Wayne Reynolds.

He's contracted to another company anyway.

Is that an exclusive contract? He did both PF1e and 4e at the same time, so I doubt that he can't do 5e art. I just think he was such a prominent 4e artist they decided to move away from him for 5e. Though there are things I like about his work I have grown tired of it and think it is probably best they have gone a different direction.

I could see him coming back for the right project though (think Brohm and Dark Sun)

 

[Morrus]

No no no Wayne Reynolds.

He's contracted to another company anyway.

He’s a freelancer, not an employee.

 

[darjr]

another fantastic piece of art. Has this been revealed before?

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[Mercador]

Better than the Angelina Jolie one but still not quite as good as Baldur's Gate.

 

[Mercador]

another fantastic piece of art. Has this been revealed before?

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View attachment 114037

This one is wayyyyy better!